This movie wasn’t my favorite, but it was also fascinating and hypnotic to watch at times. The movie feels frequently languid and unfocused, so there are lots of scenes that go on too long or aren’t super related to anything else in the movie.
But James Dean really is something else. His performance is almost alien to the rest of the cast. While everyone else has perfect, just-barely-English diction, he mutters and growls half of his lines. Everyone else is statically facing the camera while Dean prowls like an animal and can’t seem to focus his vision on any single place too long.
I’ve seen movies that pre-date method acting and those that come afterwards - I’ve never seen one squarely in-between, where one actor is almost from the future while everyone else is from the past. It makes an already great performance really stand out.
